Guide
llms.txt explained
llms.txt is a proposed root file that orients AI systems to your site—what you do, which pages matter, and how to cite you—without replacing crawlable content.
What llms.txt is
llms.txt is a plain-text file at the site root that gives AI crawlers and agents a concise, curated map of your product: summary, key URLs, and notes. Think of it as an orientation doc—not a ranking switch.
What llms.txt is not
- Not a guarantee of ChatGPT or Claude citations
- Not a replacement for a sitemap, metadata, or readable page content
- Not a place to hide private or inaccurate marketing claims
How it fits with other signals
| Signal | Role |
|---|---|
| robots.txt | Allows or blocks crawlers by path and user-agent |
| sitemap.xml | Lists canonical public URLs |
| llms.txt | Human/AI-readable product orientation |
| HTML + JSON-LD | Page-level facts answer engines can cite |
Practical checklist
- Publish `/llms.txt` with an accurate product summary
- Link to features, methodology, pricing, and legal pages
- Optionally add `/llms-full.txt` for deeper detail
- Keep claims aligned with what your public pages actually say
- Verify AI crawlers are not blocked from those URLs in robots.txt
See BatSignal’s own [llms.txt](/llms.txt) and [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) as a worked example.
FAQ
Does llms.txt guarantee AI citations?
No. llms.txt is a discovery and orientation file for AI systems. Useful sites still need crawlable content, clear metadata, sitemaps, and relevant public pages.
Where should llms.txt live?
Publish it at the site root as /llms.txt. Optionally add /llms-full.txt for a longer summary, and reference both from robots.txt or your documentation.